Connect Series: Meet Lindsay Bookout, our Legal Training Coordinator!
Lindsay is Reportex’s legal training coordinator. She’s responsible for proofreading and evaluating our legal screening tests, reviewing all Catalyst practice files done by our legal trainees and overseeing transcript work done by our new court reporters, scopers and proofers.
She also collaborates with the editing and QC teams to ensure that our wiki content is current, is an integral member of the wiki reboot team and works with the QC team to review and finalize transcripts for production.
When not at work, Lindsay enjoys yoga, painting, the beach and spending time with her dogs.
We recently asked Lindsay a few questions. Here’s what she had to say:
What originally got you interested in your current field of work?
I have always had an interest in writing and editing, and I have always wanted to be some kind of editor. I enjoy proofreading more than content editing as I love grammar and punctuation and the nitty-gritty details that come with proofreading.
I came across the Proofread Anywhere course a few months after I had graduated from college. The plan was to take a year off and then apply to law school. I was the proud new owner of three degrees, and I needed a break, to be honest. I had taken some classes in technical writing, and the technical side of transcripts did not scare me off (and I had an interest in law), so I figured I would give it a shot!
As far as my role as training coordinator, though, I have always been “a trainer,” for lack of a better word. I have never been the person to give a job less than 100 percent (even those minimum wage jobs that you really want to!), and I would always offer to train people and take new employees under my wing. I have actually written three training manuals for three different jobs! When I was working as the kennel manager at a vet’s office, my first act as manager was to completely overhaul their training system, write an entirely new manual and set up new procedures for how we handled our dogs and clients.
I enjoy helping people succeed in their jobs. I think this stems from my first job where I was essentially left high and dry by who was supposed to train me! Once I figured everything out, that is when I started taking new people under my wing and helping them (because whoever was supposed to train them never seemed to be around to help!).
Word on Slack is that you recently created a grammar bootcamp class for Reportex staff and that class starts in early October. Can you tell us a little bit about this?
We have such an incredibly talented group of people working for Reportex. The idea is that we are a company that promises and takes pride in the excellence of our work, so we want to ensure that everyone working at Reportex feels as confident and prepared as possible to be able to provide that excellence when writing emails, reports or whatever else their jobs throw at them. The bootcamp is going to be broken up into different sections, so everyone will likely take more than one session with me. We are going to go over the basics of grammar and writing, and I am hoping that the activities I have planned will make it enjoyable for everyone!
At Reportex our core values of team, mentorship, equality, community and industry are central to what we do. Which of these values resonates most strongly with you and why?
Mentorship. I love working with our new contractors and helping them get accustomed to our rules, procedures and style guide. When I was being trained as a proofer, I loved the encouraging and helpful attitude as I really feel like that kind of positivity helps you feel confident in your job and the work that you are doing. I try to pass on that encouragement to the people that I train. I also love that mentorship is not necessarily a one-way street here. There is always someone who knows something that you do not, and I love that I can read through our proofers corner Slack group and see an awesome discussion on grammar that helps me better understand something. I also love being part of the QC team and learning from and working with them, so I guess that “team” resonates strongly with me as well.
What is your top proofing tip?
Triple-check everything! Whenever I see something that I am 99 percent sure is correct, I take a few seconds to check. It never hurts, and every now and then I find it was a mistake! And if I just cannot figure something out, I will leave myself a note, take a break and then check again later. Letting your brain reset is essential. We have to keep these proofing brains sharp!
If you could time travel, when and where would you go?
How about into the future a few months after we beat COVID??
In all honesty, I would love to see North America at some point earlier than the 1300s when the wilderness was still vast. I love camping and hiking, and whenever I am camping, I always find myself wondering what these forests looked like so long ago.
